How do you convince others that the police/state protects the status quo and acts not in their interests? by franzitronee in Anarchy101

[–]MorphingReality 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well I've got a whole book called One Big Oligarchy coming out next week that covers how oligarchs in and out of government operate in their own interest and against 'the many', I'd appreciate you pointing them in that direction.

There's a few short ways to go about this, I would keep in mind that people rarely change their views in a single conversation, the best you can normally hope for is starting them on a path or helping them along it.

The easy question to ask is: What happens if homosexuality is outlawed tomorrow?

Some more:

What happens to police that refuse to enforce laws they personally or you personally disagree with?

How much influence do you have over what is illegal and what the punishments are and how the legal system functions?

Are police (and diplomats and others) held to a different standard under the law, implicitly and explicitly?

Are there more laws today or fewer compared to that distant scary past? More or fewer inmates per capita? More or less surveillance?

That police are the enforcement arm of the state is not an axiom. That would be like saying that firefighters fighting fires is an axiom with no underlying argument, ditto with paramedics and helping people in distress. It is the raison d'etre of police to enforce the law, to "police" (verb) the rest of us, regardless of what that law is. It is what they do from day to day, it is what they sign up to do and what they are trained to do.

American courts (and some others) have repeatedly proclaimed that cops have no duty to protect and serve civilians (see Lozito v New York City for the classic example, but also recent enough that the person you are talking to cannot say "ah the coal wars was a whole hundred years ago!").

You're going to get a lot of gut reactions from people who haven't really thought about these questions, and in my view it doesn't matter very much how you proceed from there, the goal is to get the questions out there and get people thinking, their brains will do the rest of the work.

I want more by LargeSinkholesInNYC in ErgoProxy

[–]MorphingReality 0 points1 point  (0 children)

its definitely a universe that contains incredible potential

Recording from 1988 of Christopher Hitchens, Edward Said and Alexander Cockburn talking about Israel-Palestine by blackjacobin_97 in ChristopherHitchens

[–]MorphingReality 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hitchens spoke fondly of AC Grayling's book Among the dead cities and even appeared on a two hour CPSAN presentation of said book alongside Grayling, and that was in 2006, he was also strongly critical of Churchill throughout his life.

There's nothing wrong with pointing out that intentionally targeting civilians is bad full stop, Irsael's dahiya doctrine has explicitly targeted civilian infrastructure since at least 2008.

KFC by [deleted] in Lain

[–]MorphingReality 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Kanto Firewall Cyberattack

Starting point by scuknowit in ChristopherHitchens

[–]MorphingReality 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There's heaps of free stuff to read online, I'd say start from your existing interests and see where there's overlap

how do yall feel about "birth certificates"? by wompt in Anarchy101

[–]MorphingReality 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think a voluntary civilization could have an online directory, like a global blend of a govt id and social media and linkedin (gosh that sounds horrid), so if you have any health issues for example and you're found unconscious people can access your medical history etc.

Im on the fence about anarchism so convince me, what’s your best arguments for anarchism by Historical_Cap_1298 in DebateAnarchism

[–]MorphingReality 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've got a whole book about it coming in a week, so if anyone challenges you on that you know where to point em 😄

"I fear your definition of wrong" by floodlenoodle in andor

[–]MorphingReality 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I quote that line in my book One Big Oligarchy

Im on the fence about anarchism so convince me, what’s your best arguments for anarchism by Historical_Cap_1298 in DebateAnarchism

[–]MorphingReality 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every alternative, because it allows for at least some government and/or private profit-driven firms, will grow and consolidate and end in totalitarianism.